


About The Normal Amount

by missema



Series: Kirkwall Tech [20]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family, Family Dinners, Kirkwall Tech, Modern Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Oral Sex, Porn with Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 08:16:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14972969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: A new year has started, and school along with it. Sebastian is ready for his senior year to be over, and wants to spend time with Melissa, who is still a little more dedicated to the idea of continuing her studies up until the last minute. She's busy, he's got plenty of time and is consumed with thoughts of her, but they manage to find some time alone together.





	About The Normal Amount

He wasn't sure how he wound up going to more family dinners as an exile from his own family, but Sebastian wasn't opposed to it. It was just inconvenient on this particular night. He'd texted Melissa after his last class, he only had one real class this semester and his final project, but had two other classes to keep himself at full-time. One was weightlifting. Yes, he was taking weightlifting as an actual class for a grade.

But he right now he was driving toward Leandra's apartment, a route he knew so well the car could have probably driven itself. When he'd texted Melissa he'd wanted a quiet night with her, especially since he hadn't seen her as much since school started back up again. Not only did he miss her, but he wanted to be with her again. Since they'd slept together during the snowstorm, and then once again on First Day, he'd thought about it constantly, to the point where he wondered if waiting hadn't been a mistake, because instead of the self-involved and truly selfish way he'd been with his partners in the past, he was absolutely consumed with desire for Melissa now. It was strange how much heat filled him when he thought of her, how this one new step in their relationship hadn't changed everything as he'd feared, but made what they already had different, more complex.

So when he'd texted and said he was thinking about kissing her, what he wasn't saying was that he meant he wanted to be kissing her while he was inside of her. He missed her heat around him, the feeling of her hands clutching at his bare back or pulling his hair as he lost himself completely in her. But while Sebastian's mind had been on Melissa's naked body wrapped around him, he sent the relatively innocuous text about wanting to kiss her, and she responded by saying that she'd planned to go see her mother and sister tonight to talk about "Foundation Business". He had no clue what that could be, but she'd invited him and he had grudgingly admitted to wanting to see Leandra. He liked her mother immensely, so much that it had overridden his selfishness in wanting Lissa all to himself.

"What were Varric and Isabela arguing about?" he asked as they waited behind a bus letting off passengers. Two girls were talking together and he heard them scream with laughter before parting ways. He smiled unconsciously at their continued laughter as they were pushed further from each other. When he turned to look at her, she was smiling faintly too, the lights of the city reflecting through the window, her dark hair picking up the reflection and shining as she pushed it out of her way. It was straightened, parted in the middle and hanging in obsidian curtains around her face, just like it had been when they went to his formal last autumn.

"Oh, I don't know really. I'd just gotten there and Varric was there and who knows what he and Isabela get up to. That class, you know the one analysis course, it's so boring. The professor is awful. I want the credit, but I feel like I'm going to have trouble paying attention." She brushed something off the long plaid skirt she wore, and continued talking about how boring the class was.

"Hmm," he said, letting her complain about it as the light changed and he drove on. Melissa, who was graduating summa cum laude in three and a half months, was challenging herself with this last graduate level course when she should be taking it easy. She very much did not want to drop it, he knew she likely wouldn't; she'd gotten a special dispensation to take the class. He, on the other hand was graduating cum laude and was taking weightlifting. He didn't really have a horse in this race, but he was trying to be supportive. He'd tried to talk her out of taking the class last semester but she hadn't listened to him.

"Wait, I do know why Varric was there, I forgot. Bela invested in one of his many ventures last summer. She told me what they were doing together but I can't quite remember now. Something about a beet farm or microgreens or something agricultural like that," she said.

"She invested in that?" Sebastian asked, surprised. Isabela had given some of her money to the Bank of Starkhaven to invest for her, but he didn't know any details other than those he helped to set up or explain for her.

Melissa shrugged, "I guess. Anyway," she put her hand on his thigh as he maneuvered into a parking spot, "I thought I could stay at the KSE house tonight instead of there. She and Varric will just end up drinking there or going to the Hanged Man, and I'd rather spend the time with you."

"You could drop the class," he suggested, but she shook her head. He put his hand over hers, feeling the warmth through her gloves.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'm not ready to give up in the first week." 

"What's special about this class?" he asked, just as she unbuckled her seatbelt. He pretended not to notice, but something inside of him deflated at the thought of getting out of the car so soon.

"It should be interesting," she said, and shifted in her seat. It took him a second to realize what she was doing, and by the time he did, she was sitting on his lap, close as their coats would allow so her back didn't press into the steering wheel and sound the horn. "We started out promising, talking about the Cauchy–Goursat theorem."

"Did you now?" he asked, voice rumbling and deep, completely unaware of anything she'd just said. They weren't talking about mathematics or class anymore, not with her straddling him and every inch of his skin heating up. Lissa was in his lap, hot as a furnace, and all the desires he'd put aside in favor of spending a night with her family rose up in him. Sebastian no longer had real control of his hands, which were unbuttoning her coat as she loomed above him. He didn't care if they were in the least comfortable position ever in a car, his seat could go further back.

"We did. But I can't remember what else we're supposed to do this semester, because I missed you and all I can think about is spending the night with you again."

"I've missed you too," he said, thinking about how much of a massive understatement that was. He'd more than missed her, but he didn't have the words to say exactly how he'd felt. Sebastian wasn't sure how to tell her how much he craved her touch, or just wanted to be around her more now that he had time enough to do nothing but lift weights and finish his final project before graduation. Instead of trying to articulate everything, he put a hand to her face, cupping her chin before sweeping it through her soft, straight hair.

Then she was kissing him, hot and sweet and so close to his fantasy that he was already hard and ready to finish it even as her mouth crushed relentlessly against his. Her tongue was unusually aggressive as it found his, and Sebastian gave a small muffled moan of pleased surprise as her hard kiss went deeper. He was so ready to be inside of Lissa it was making him dizzy. As nice as this was, there was a small part of him that realized something was off about Melissa, that this wasn't like her. When he pulled away, he caught her face in his hands again and asked, "What's going on, love?"

"Nothing, nothing," she said immediately, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's probably good we stopped now anyway, I have on these stupid tights."

"If you think tights would have done much more than slow me down..."

She laughed and shook her head. "I, um, yeah, I should get up, if I can. Sebastian," she said and then stopped, biting into her lower lip. She looked away from him beneath her and instead of trying to get up, busied herself unlocking his door. "We're almost late," was all she said, even though he was sure she was going to say more. 

He refrained from rolling his eyes at 'almost late' because to her that meant early or on time. She sadly departed his lap, and with her went all hope of indulging in some car sex before dinner. It wasn't that Sebastian so desperately wanted to test the confines of his car, he'd been there and done that before, but he'd been so caught up in his own wants that he'd just gone along with it when she sat on his lap.

When he managed to get himself up and out, the cold air dampened his erection quickly, and he understood why she might not want to divest herself of tights right now. Though they were on the side of midwinter that meant longer days, the holiday itself wasn't too far in the past and it was still long, cold nights and bitter winds. Sebastian took her hand when they got to the door, waiting for Leandra or Bethany to let them into the apartment.

The porch light seemed overly bright in the darkness, and Melissa was directly under it. It illuminated her face from above, casting hard shadows under her eyes, nose and lips, making her look tired. She was still so perfectly beautiful, and he loved her so much that he couldn't help but try to talk to her again while they waited. He took her hand and held onto it as he started to speak.

"You can stay at the house tonight, there's nothing going on there. Perhaps you should ask your mother what to do about the class, but I'm of the mind that you need some time off, Liss," he said, just as Bethany opened the door on them. He had to blink to adjust to the new flood of light.

"Come in," she said, waving them in. He held the door open for Lissa and entered after her, then kissed Beth on the cheek. "Mother's made something, I think soup and bread. I just got here myself."

"It's serve yourselves night," Leandra called from the kitchen, and despite whatever storm Melissa was brewing inside of her, Sebastian felt himself relax into a laugh as he went in to greet Leandra. It felt good to be here.

#

She knew that Sebastian was right to tell her to drop the class, but part of Melissa didn't want to admit how tired she was. Usually school made her motivated, ready for the next step, but she was exhausted and the term had just started. Maybe it was the added work of the foundation, which despite Beth's promises, was more than just a few things to sign each month. Maybe it was because most of her brain-power was dedicated to useless daydreaming most of the time, with her wishing she were already at the next step instead of still trying to take it. Melissa wasn't sure what it was, but she was exhausted nonetheless, and a class with a bad professor might push her over the edge this semester.

A lot of her daydreams involved her and Sebastian doing absolutely nothing for a while, maybe a month or so, while they just set up their apartment and got used to living together. A month would be the longest she'd gone without working for years, since before her father died. Then they could order furniture and she could plan out a container garden for the deck, pick out some quilts she didn't have to make herself. Those thought inevitably led her into trouble, her chaste fantasy of home nesting turning steamy as soon as she thought of decorating their bedroom or Sebastian taking his shirt off to sleep. Inexplicably, she felt so ashamed and stupid for having such juvenile fantasies. It would be harder than that, it was difficult to make a life she knew that from growing up. They wouldn't have time to spend laying around all the time, but this past week when she'd been so busy, she found herself lapsing into her childish dreams and reckless fantasizing. 

But Maker, she still could feel his kisses from the car, but this stupid skirt and tights and boot combo that had looked so cute this morning had thwarted her. The beginning of term was always busy, and she was helping Bethany drop out of school and work on the Amell Foundation on top of all the regular but hectic school-related things that had to get done. She'd gone to tell the mathematics department she wasn't up to doing her tutoring this semester, so she'd wanted to look nice, out of a kind of respect. They'd hired her on campus when she needed the money, paid her when students stood her up and she technically shouldn't have gotten anything. In her mind there was a reason behind it, even if it didn't exactly make sense.

"You look nice," Mother said, smiling at her as Melissa sat down at the table to eat. She could never get out of the habit of sitting at the table to eat when she came to visit Mother, even though she ate dinner whenever and wherever when she was left to her own devices. 

"Thanks," Melissa replied smiling over at her mom. Sebastian was giving her a look that she ignored, and got up to get herself something to drink.

"I have papers for you to sign," Bethany called out to her from the living room. "And a press release for you to look over."

"Is there any good news?" Melissa asked over her shoulder, only half-sarcastically. She was standing next to Mother in the kitchen, towering over her in her low-heeled boots. She handed Melissa two warm, freshly washed glasses for her and Sebastian to use, then put her hands back in the soapy water to finish doing dishes. Melissa watched her mother for a moment, thinking about how they used to do chores together when she was little. Sometimes she missed those days in the fond way she missed everything in Ferelden that she never wanted to relive again.

"Yes actually, smartass," Bethany said as Mother scowled at her. Melissa laughed, then quickly dried and filled both cups before she went to sit back down at the table.

There were papers spread out at her place, and Bethany was sitting across from her and Sebastian. Sebastian's bowl of soup was larger than her own, but already nearly half gone. When she looked over at him as Bethany slid another sheaf of paper her way, she had to bite her lower lip to keep from announcing that she suddenly needed to leave. Every kiss in the car had been a promise she wanted to make good on right then. Only Bethany's explanation of the forms brought her back, forcing her focus on the papers in front of her. She broke off a piece of bread to gnaw on as she read. Most of the paperwork was from the Viscount's Office, about their official status as a foundation, a few papers from the bank that needed her signature. She could drop them off tomorrow. The press release was something Beth put together that would go out as soon as she signed off on it.

This foundation of Bethany's was really swamping her with work she didn't need right now. She wanted so much for it to work, but without her. This was Beth's idea and execution really, Melissa was just trying to steer it onto a path that wouldn't have it folding in a year or less. At night she'd been reading up on what to do for this foundation -- there were lots of people that started charities, it was a popular scam. She wanted to do this right, and though she had no background in business or charitable work, she could at least do her best. If it failed, it wouldn't be because she hadn't tried.

The table was initially quiet as she read, and Melissa didn't take her attention from the documents not even as Mother came in and started asking questions. Her concentration was trained only on her work, and she went through the items line by line, eating absently and only looking up to ask a few clarifying questions. Melissa was aware that Sebastian was watching her, but there was heat in his gaze, so much she could feel without even meeting his eyes. It made her hyper-aware of every movement, the way she licked her lips and then looked up just to see him grit his teeth. He wasn't watching her work because he liked to see her, as he had so many times when they were doing homework together -- he was waiting for her to be done so he could take her home. Melissa had to make herself eat the food and make edits on the press release.

"Lissy, what does Sebastian mean about your class? Are you actually having trouble?" Bethany asked when she looked up. Her sister wore a look of concerned incredulity, her mouth twisted into a grimace but her eyes were gentle as Melissa met them. She shook her head at Bethany, and glanced over to see their mother wearing a similarly concerned look.

"Oh, I don't know if it's that dire," she said, shooting Sebastian a confused look. "It's more like, should I take this advanced class this semester? It's a good overview of some complex topics, but the professor is more boring than you would believe, and the bar is pretty low for mathematics professors," Melissa explained. "But I did get a special approval to take the class, and I'd hate to waste it."

"It's graduate level?" Mother asked, and Melissa nodded.

"Then just drop it now and go to grad school," Mother said. She walked over to her sewing machine and started to clean it too. Her grey and black dreadlocks skimmed the top of the table as she leaned to the side to adjust the machine. She lifted the needle and took out a tiny brush from a plastic pack on the table next to the machine. She swept at the surfaces while she started to speak again, "You keep taking these extra classes, you had one last semester too. I don't think you're ready to be done with school yet."

"I think some time off could do us some good," Sebastian interjected, and Bethany nodded her agreement.

"Oh, I definitely agree with that," Mother said, but she looked musingly at Melissa and added, "but you're still interested in these classes and topics. You want to learn, you always have. Even if you take a year to work, you'll still want that. Take the summer off and decide what to do. For now, let the class go."

"I don't know," Melissa said, but she saw the wisdom in what Mother said. Maybe she wasn't ready to let go of school yet, but more school would mean tests and applications she should have started in the fall if she wanted to go anytime soon.

She directed her attention back to the pile of papers and asked Bethany, "What was the good news you mentioned?"

"When the Viscounty gave us permission to operate, we got a small grant of five thousand sovereigns to help us get on our feet. I've applied for a few more, but it takes a long time to write the grants and hear back," Bethany said. "I'm hopeful, and this smaller grant should cover some operating costs for now. It's good to have some money to go on."

"Are you still working?" Melissa asked and Bethany nodded. 

"Anders found some way to keep me on at the clinic, but it's mostly administrative work for me now, and mixing potions. I still get to talk to people, but I don't have to try to heal them, which is a relief. I'll roll bandages all day and file forms so long as I don't have to go to school anymore."

"Did you leave officially?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, I signed all the papers and all of that this week. There's a professor that wants to meet with me, probably to talk me back into going. I'm seeing him tomorrow afternoon, but other than that, I've left in good standing. I can go back if I want later on."

Mother said nothing during this exchange, but Melissa saw her give Bethany a worried look. She too was worried for her sister, but at least she'd left a way to go back if this grand foundation didn't work out. Melissa was president, sure, but she wasn't certain this was going to be the lucrative, fulfilling work Beth thought it would be. More likely it was going to be more paperwork until there wasn't a foundation anymore, because that kind of funding wasn't going to come easily, and Melissa was a complete novice at raising money. But that was a worry for another day, and Melissa signed off on her papers and gave them back to Bethany. The future, which seemed brighter than ever for Melissa, still was so nebulous in so many ways. She wanted Bethany to be all right, which meant she had to put the work into this foundation, or at least match the amount Beth was already doing, which was a lot. Melissa thanked her Mother for the dinner and told her she'd be back soon, with Sebastian echoing her statement. He'd probably be back sooner than she would, sharing one of Mother's cakes and taking her to the store. Then finally, with a slice of pie for dessert packed away for each of them, she and Sebastian were able to leave.

The frigid night air was a shock after the warm, soup-scented interior of the small apartment. Melissa shivered in her boots, and walked fast to where they'd parked. When they were out of sight of the door, but not quite to the car yet, Sebastian caught her by the arm. She stopped in the swirling snow, the cold wind blowing it across the asphalt of the parking lot. He was grinning, the glint of his teeth caught in the streetlight and Melissa grinned back as she walked into his embrace. 

"If it were summer, we wouldn't make it to the car," he whispered to her.

"Is that so? I hadn't realized you wanted me that much," she teased back at him. 

"I want you all the time, which is about the normal amount, I think," Sebastian confessed with a laugh. A blast of music played for a few seconds as a nearby door opened and closed again, and during it, her tongue found its way into the heat of his mouth once again. It didn't matter that it was below freezing, windy and she was holding a plastic bag with half a pie in it. All that mattered was him, Sebastian, the way he kept her from feeling the cold, the press of his open mouth against hers, the feeling of his hand cupping her ass through the layers of fabric between their skin. This kiss could have gone on longer, so long they could have gotten frostbite if it hadn't been for the lights of a car turning into the parking lot and shining on them briefly as it navigated its way into a space.

"Come on Lissa, let me take you home," he said breathlessly when they pulled apart. There were six traffic lights between here and KSE and for the first time she both hoped and dreaded that they'd hit every single one of them.

#

He had a ring to give her, when the time was right. All of it was heirloom, but some came from his mother's side and the other from his Vael side, and he'd called to get permission to have what had already been willed him but not actually given to him. Sebastian had to call his father anyway, and he wasn't thrilled about the fact that they'd be living together after graduation without getting engaged first. He thought it was going to cause scandal if they didn't get married, but he'd weathered worse gossip, and he had no plans to break up with Melissa ever. So Sebastian had patiently explained that he could wait for her to want to get engaged, she, after all, had waited for him in more way than one. There was no reason to try to force her to get married, not even if his father threatened or cajoled or even attempted to cut off the money. He had the ring and the construction on the apartment was already paid for, and now they even had floors.

But the ring was a gorgeous creation of his own design, though he was clearly biased. It had three main stones from his grandmother Vael's anniversary ring, the one he remembered his grandfather giving her for their fiftieth anniversary, just before she'd died. The platinum band was Antivan, and came from a ring from his mother's side of the family. The rest of the stones he bought, and they wove together in a traditional Starkhaven knotwork band of diamonds and platinum framing the marquise cut center diamond flanked by two sapphires. Isabela helped him only a little with the design and she sized it, Leandra gave her permission and Bethany cried when he told he that he'd always wanted a sister. They just had to help Melissa get to a place where she could say yes, where everything in her heart only pointed at one answer with no hesitation. 

The plan was to keep asking as she'd told him to, but to be strategic about when he asked. As graduation approached, Sebastian wanted to give her less to worry about, not more, and he wasn't going to pester or badger her into relenting. That was the last thing he wanted. So things were easy between them, and his main concern was how to see her more this semester, because he wasn't really all that worried about the future. It was wrapped up in a safety deposit box at the bank, along with some of his other, personal heirlooms and documents.

So that night, Sebastian already knew what he was planning for their future, and his thoughts were on getting Melissa to his room without too many of his brothers stopping them. The problem was, no matter how many kisses they traded in the car, or what he whispered in her ear, Melissa would stop on the first floor. Fabian would talk to her, Lucky would stop her or Canoe would ask for help with his homework. Worthy, creepy Worthy, would say something mildly flattering and mostly just weird, like could he sniff her hair, and kill the mood entirely. 

He pulled into a parking space near the KSE house and turned to her, and Melissa caught his mouth in a kiss before he could speak. Before he could stop himself, he was pulling her deeper into the kiss, teasing her tongue with his and wishing that the center console between them would completely disappear for once. His gloved hands were caught in her hair, urging her closer than was comfortable in the car. He'd had sex in a car before, but it was always exceedingly uncomfortable, even in the backseat. His bed was just steps away inside of the house, if they could make it.

"Liss, Liss. No wait, listen to me," he said, separating himself briefly from the wondrous softness of her lips. "When we go in, we should probably just run up to my room."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but he could tell from her smirk she knew why. "So no answering homework questions for the brothers or sitting around listening to Fabian whine about Viveka?"

"Exactly. I want you naked and on top of me in less than five minutes from now, and that's not going to happen if we stop for a chat."

Melissa laughed, but she didn't disagree. When she nodded at him, Sebastian caught her face in his hands and pulled her in for another round of fevered kisses. By the time they actually got out of the car, it was probably more than five minutes later, but Sebastian didn't really care. He took Lissa's hand and sped through the door of the house. Someone may have called out to him, but he didn't hear it properly or acknowledge it. He blazed a line up to his bedroom with her right next to him, and then shut the door by kissing her up against it.

When she broke away from him this time, it was because she'd pushed her skirt down and his pants, and was moving onto her tights and she needed to take off her boots. Boots, tights, and panties came off and were hastily kicked into a growing heap on his floor. Off came her coat and sweater, his coat and shirt landed in the pile with her bra on top of that. The sight of her naked was always such a wonderful one, Melissa was all shining ebony hair and gleaming brown skin and soft, slender limbs, but right now Sebastian wasn't stopping to appreciate the sight for very long. With his cock nearly bursting out of his boxer shorts, he fell to his knees in front of her, kissing her thighs and stomach as a prelude.

He'd affected this pose so many times in the Chantry, but it was only here that it felt like it suited, that it felt truthful. Sebastian nosed between her thighs, parting the thick black thatch of curls there and kissing her outer lips. She slid a leg over his shoulder, the softness of her heel touching his back just before she wound the ground in a slightly widened stance. He could smell the beginnings of her arousal, and he kept his mouth gentle as he kissed her into a full flush. His tongue swept instead of prodded, he made each kiss a caress until he felt her muscles start to tighten, and felt the hands in his hair start to grip and direct his mouth. Sebastian smiled against Melissa's now wet cunt, but kept the pace slow as he finally added a finger, slipping it around her clit a few times before delving inside of her. She was wetter now, ready if he wanted to move to the bed, but that would be selfishly depriving her of a climax in favor of his own.

He was a gentleman, and more than that he loved Lissa, and so yielded to her insisting hands, squashing his selfish impulses. Sebastian quickened the pace with his tongue, the faster, shallower strikes with it in contrast to the slower motion of his finger plunging in and out of her. She was tight around him, but it was only one digit and Lissa had grown very wet, but it wasn't quite the same feeling as he'd enjoy around him in a few minutes. Sebastian slid a second finger in her and heard her breath catch, felt her take a hand from his hair and anchor herself against the closed door. She titled slightly rocking against his mouth, making him moan into her as slick darkness covered his face.

"Sebastian," she whispered, so quiet that he only caught the end of his name. Even truncated and whispered, hearing her say his name in the hushed tones of a benediction did things to him. He was rougher now, greedier, hungrier and eager to make her cry out his name. She was so quiet, even with her talkative directness, Melissa was used to hiding, each romp a furtive quickie between other, more important tasks. There was no need to hide in the KSE house, everyone already would know, and besides, he liked to brag a little. Actually, he liked to brag a lot, so much that he almost wished his bed squeaked. Some volume would just add another bit of evidence to what the other brothers should already know.

He was deliriously happy and in love, and very good at expressing it in this way. That thought drove him to suck on her clit again, making her buck against his face until he felt the telltale stiffening that signaled she was about to come. Sebastian didn't relent, lips and fingers and tongue all working as she started to moan his name, louder and louder until it was a quivering, vibrato grace note to his efforts. When he sat back, as much to give her some space to recover and to take his chance to breathe freely, she slumped forward on liquid, too languid knees. Sebastian stood and caught her around the waist, and found himself pulled into a surprisingly fiery kiss when he'd only meant to help her to bed.

They did make it to bed, but he was propelled backwards by her power, her hands grasping and reaching for him, all at once trying to push and please. When he fell back onto the bed with a laugh, she mounted him. Maker, this was just like his dreams, the fantasies he'd amused himself with while his mind should have been anything else. There was some shuffling, he had to actually get his legs onto the bed if he was going to participate, but after a few scrambling moments, she was astride him and sliding so slowly onto the rigid length of his cock, it made him grit his teeth.

By Andraste, this was perfect. Everything about this was perfect. She was all liquid fire around him, soft, wet and yielding until she tensed and sent sparks through every inch of him, making white lines of pleasure cross his vision. Her hands, one on his chest and the other anchoring her to the bed, mimicked her movements, up and down until she found the right rhythm. Once established, her attention wandered, her hand raking through his chest hair and then to tease one flat nipple. He caught her hand and kissed the top of it, and she took it back, smiling coyly at him as she cupped her breasts and teased her own nipples as she had his. This was by far his favorite position. When he reached up to take one of her dark, hard nipples in his mouth, Lissa lifted herself nearly off of him and lowered back down all the way, so swiftly he gasped. Sebastian only flicked his tongue over the end of it, looking up at catch her mischievous grin.

Oh, so that was how it was to be tonight? He smirked up at her and nearly toppled Lissa off his waist with the fervor of his response.

It wasn't a race he could win, he knew that, because she'd already come once, and besides an orgasm for her wasn't the end goal, but a diverting side-trip that could be repeated many, many times. He envied her that, because he was like a timer running out of grains of sand, though he didn't regret the loss of any moment, not with her. Sebastian's hips surged and rolled to meet hers, until he was near and then he set the pace. Melissa fell onto his chest as he thrust more quickly, the two of them caught in a panting, sweaty, extended kiss until he couldn't anymore and let the waves pull him under completely.

#

She was quiet as she rolled off Sebastian, and hungry again. There was the slice of pie her mother made, but honestly, Melissa was sure she could eat a whole pizza by herself after that. But try as she might, she couldn't find the energy to do anything more than lay in Sebastian's arms, her fingers trailing lazily over his chest in no particular pattern. Absently, she watched the Chantry sunburst on the necklace he wore rise and fall with his breathing, glinting as it caught the light and then was hidden away by his chest hair.

"What do you want for your birthday?" Sebastian asked. She nuzzled into his side and made a considering noise that was more than half yawn.

"I don't want anything in particular right now, but I can think of something if you give me some time."

"Please do, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed for number twenty-five," he told her. Sleepily, she watched his jaw as he spoke, admiring the stubble on it. He would look so handsome with a beard. 

"Stubble," she muttered to herself, making him chuckle.

"Did I scratch you?" he asked, but when she shook her head he prompted her again. She reached out a hand and caught his fuzzy chin in it. "You're gonna need to explain that," he said, and she closed her eyes as she did.

"You have stubble today. It's nice. I like your beard. Does it want a pizza?" she asked and then fell asleep before he could do more than laugh.

She woke up to the smell of warm cheese pizza drawing her out of a doze that had inadvertently turned into a half hour nap. It was late, she'd gotten out of class in the evening, and then they'd gone to visit her family. Melissa wondered where he'd gotten a pizza from, but decided she didn't care as she sat up and let the carefully placed blanket fall off of her. Sebastian was dressed, but pulled off his shirt to get back in bed with her, bringing the box of pizza with him.

"I have beer. I can get you something else if you like," he said, but shook her head and held out a hand to accept the beer. It was cold, and that was pretty much all it had going for it. Marchers never made real beer, at least, not to her Fereldan tastes.

"One day I'll take you to Ferelden so we can have some decent beer," she said, scooping up a slice of pizza with her free hand and wolfing it down.

"Maybe for break," he suggested, but she shook her head.

"Spring break it'll still be cold there. And spring in Ferelden is rightly called 'mud season'. Maybe in the summer if we're heading in the south. Denerim will be awful in the summer though."

"I'd like to see where you're from," Sebastian said. She didn't answer as she ate, thinking about what her mother said earlier. Maybe she wasn't done with school yet, but that didn't mean graduate school was the right answer for now. She'd thought about it, but it was expensive, and she wanted to not be in school at all for a while.

"Interior work is about to start on the apartment. Do you want to come with me in the morning to see it? I sent over all the finishes we decided on, but I think there's a few we missed. Definitely forgot a paint color for one of the baths," Sebastian said. His mind must have wandered too, because Ferelden was forgotten in favor of their apartment. Melissa smiled over at him as she picked up her third slice of pizza.

"Sure, I'll have time in the morning. You think I should drop the class?"

"Are you asking for permission?" he countered looking over at her as he took a drink of his beer. She shook her head at him. "You know what I think," he said.

"Okay, then I'll definitely have time tomorrow if I drop this class tonight," she decided, and finished her pizza. "I will have a free day, nothing to do," she added, a little surprised. Her free time had always been rare, and a whole day in the middle of the week that she didn't have to work was unheard of, at least in these last few years. Her laptop bag was still out in Sebastian's car, she hadn't thought to grab it on their mad dash upstairs, but that was fine.

It really was more than fine, she decided as Sebastian smiled over at her and handed her the last slice of pizza.


End file.
